About

 

In my senior year of high school, they closed the gym for repairs. A few of my friends discovered that the door to the stage area was unlocked, and that gymnastic crash mats had been stashed there. It made for a quiet, dark, comfortable escape during our spare periods. We kept it a secret, and called it “the humble abode.”

So, welcome to my humble abode on the Internet, my dimly-lit secret little escape from the drudgeries of the work-a-day world. You won’t find me talking about my work, or politics, or religion… just games, movies, entertainment and other complete wastes of time. This is a place to get away from it all…!

Mecandes [mɛˈkænˌdiːs] isn’t my real name; it popped into my head when I was trying to come up with a name for my gypsy-like bard character in Ultima Online. It seemed fairly original, so I’ve used it as a character name and alias ever since. I’ve been somewhat enamoured of bards ever since I played The Bard’s Tale on the Commodore 64 as a pre-teen; I picture bards as dashing, cunning, and musically talented — completely unlike myself.

A few of my favourite things:

Activities: Video Games, Reading, Hiking, Travel, Geeking out.

Interests: Computers, Technology, Science, Space, Politics, Religion

Music: 80s pop, celtic, Enya, Sting, Seal, Counting Crows, Great Big Sea, Barenaked Ladies, Gowan, Van Halen, Pink Floyd, John Williams, film and game soundtracks

Books: Medieval fantasy, science fiction, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, H.G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, Stephen R. Lawhead, Robert Jordan, Star Wars, Star Trek

Movies: Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Braveheart, Shadowlands, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, E.T., Ghostbusters, Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Trek

TV Shows: Robin of Sherwood, Babylon 5, Doctor Who, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Lost, SeaQuest DSV, Roar, Samurai Jack, The Real Ghostbusters, Torchwood, The Big Bang Theory

Games: The Bard’s Tale, Ultima, The Elder Scrolls, Worms, Warcraft, Diablo, Rock Band, G.R.A.W., retro gaming on Commodore 64 and Amiga.

“It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.” – Gandalf (The Lord of the Rings)

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller